ParkMan

It's not our place to decide that. It's up to a Scout and the Scouts family. This is a significantly more complex decision than anything Scouters need to be involved in. Whether you or I think the kid is getting good advice at home or not, the kids need our support. If they want to be treated as a boy, treat them as a boy and move on.

It does seem like this is a place where youth really just need our support and for us to treat them as 100% normal and accepted - regardless of their gender identity.

I'm not sure I agree. Yes, many things are more expensive - yes. But, many are not. I think it's a fundamental part of the law for a Scout to be thrifty. It's important for the Scouts to learn how to spend efficiently. I 100% agree. But, I find that as a whole, we offer a pretty cost effective offering for youth. Our summer camps are some of the least expensive. Monthly events are pretty reasonable. Dues at $100 a year are not that much. My cable bill is $100 a month. My cell phone $200. Scouts is pretty reasonable by comparison. I'm not pushing back on your point.

Respectfully, I think we're over thinking this. Girls will not like uniforms because they feel the need to be sexy? Girls won't like advancement because it's too militaristic? I don't think so. I've got a 9 year old and a 14 year old daughter. They are not too concerned with dressing sexy - actually it feel kinda odd even thinking about it. Both daughters are in Girl Scout troops. My older daughter's troop sets a high standard for uniforming. All 12 girls in that troop do a great job of uniforming and I've never heard more than grumbles from my daughter. My 9 year old's troop is mu

We talk about the cost a lot on our troop. I was a scout in 1985. Campouts were $20. I put $20 into a inflation calculator and today it's the equivalent of $46. Our average troop monthly camping trip is about $30. I thought that was interesting.

It's just a matter of time. Most of the girls who have been waiting to become Scouts are already in Girl Scouts. It's going to take a few years for girls to get comfortable with the notion that BSA scouting is a valid choice and that they ought to check it out. That will move more quickly if there are great troops to join, but it's going to take some time regardless. In the short term, I think you find the best "boy" troop you can and see if you can steer the interest to establish a girl troop there - whether linked or separate. Odds are that there is something about the "boy" tr

Yes. Assuming time and family were not a factor. How would I do it? Something like.... Initial Goal I'd start by establishing my initial goal. It would look something like: - a great CO & place to meet - 12 scouts at least. My max goal would be 24 scouts. - SM & 2 ASMs - A Troop Committee of 3 people (Chair, Treasurer, & Activities) Stretch goal: Have a feeder pack How I'd reach goal #1. 1) I'd call my DE. I'd let him know that I'm doing this. I'd leverage his/her skills to help get this started. 2) Start looking for a Scoutmaster 3) I'd tr

I think this is ultimately the much bigger question. All our talk about structure of troops is for nothing if there are no girls to join. I do though think the Venture crew issue is different. We, as a larger Scouting community, just don't really have a clear value proposition for a Venture crew. So, as a results teens - be they boys or girls - are just not that interested in the amorphous Crew concept.

Thanks a lot for taking this on guys! I can imagine it's a lot of work and time to keep tabs on this bunch

Welcome to the forum @Scoutinglife

I agree 100% with @Chris1. I've both taken Wood Badge and staffed it. I think taking it in August is a great time. On your position. I'd suggest two things: 1) talk with the course registrar and explain the IOLS status. They may just waive it. 2) If they don't waive IOLS, consider registering as a Commttee Member. The training for that is all online and you'll be done in a couple of hours. What you'll find is that they want you to write your ticket for your primary role. I'm sure some courses are more lax about this than others - but a Committee Member focused on membersh

Hi Jenn, Our troop used to be a First Class first year troop. But, then the BSA made the requirements a bit tougher and it's stretched out to 18 months. We never pushed the boys- we simply had enough opportunities for boys to work on skills and camp that they just got it done. At an 18 month pace, they earn a rank ever 4-6 months which works out to about one per COH. As I mentioned before, I'm a big fan on handing out all recognition and POR patches immediately. The COH is the vehicle by which we recognize scouts. But, it should not be the gate by which Scouts feel a sense of ac

Congrats! Have a fun time!

I'm wondering if the newer leadership is trying to take a more aggressive stance here. The new, very somber YPT. Increased rules in the G2SS. This new clause on following the G2SS outside of scouting. It's tough for me to tell if we're at a tipping point. My GSUSA friends tell me their rules and requirements are tougher. It doesn't seem to hurt them much.

I think councils can approve them

Welcome to the forum @tpolly!

I'll admit - I had the wind taken out of my sails when I realized why the new rules. I'm still very optimistic that we can find a way to work with the new adult requirement. Just because adults are there doesn't mean that patrols can't work. Adults close by, but not part of the conersations - that kind of thing.

I think we may need to figure out what supervision means. If I think about all kinds of common sense activites, scouts are not watched 100% of the time. But, now that I see this bit where they've added meetings to this - that too might be changing. I'm not sure if they are trying to fix the case of Scouts getting in over their heads on a camping trips or if it's an abuse prevention measure. I'm starting to think it's the latter. If that's what it is - then yes, they don't want us to leave scouts unattended. I hope it's not that.

Per the other line of conversation. Adult leadership doesn't mean adult involvement. It just means you be got adults nearby to make sure there are no health and safety issues. It doesn't have to prevent a patrol from being a patrol or doing what they would normally.

I think it's a great idea. Sets a good example of responsible environmental stewardship and helps strengthen ties to local universities. My only reservation would be if the partnership began to cause undue impact on the staff or programs of the camp. In the BSA we're always short on people & money - so as long as this doesn't become a sink hole for these two things - I think it's great.

Welcome to the forum @Legion6. The current version of the form was published in 2016. Lions was just a pilot at the time. It does include all the other den leader roles that were available, I'd just infer that it was due to the newness of the Lion program. I'd fill out the form and add my own checkbox for "Lion Den Leader" and submit it.

My recommendation - next time don't return the loops. Even in Cub Scouts we had a tackle box. That made it a lot easier to facilitate the last minute requests. In my mind, if a Cub Scout shows up at a pack meeting and says "look what I finished today", you try to find a way to award it.

I think that's two deep adult leadership in my book. Adult leadership is present to make sure that the correct things happen if something goes wrong. The adults can verify that basic precautions were taken, the boys know where they are going. Then they can wait at the end of the trail. If the boys don't arrive at the expected location, then you can take the appropriate steps.

That's what we do. We have plenty of each rank, merit badge, POR. A scout earns something or takes on a new POR - he gets it that night in front of the troop. The COH is for formally recognizing the boys, parent pins, and speeches.

And they still can - 100%. This is exactly why we need leaders like @qwazse & @Oldscout448. Yes, the mechanisms we use in scouting change - sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. But, the basic task has not - developing youth through Scouting. Scouting needs the experiences leaders to help guide the new leaders and adults so that good choices are made. On this issue - patrol activities. One could read that and have adults take over. Or, a season Scouter could read that and say "ok, we have to make sure we've got two deep adult leadership. So, let's come up with a way to have